Maybe you’ve noticed that trying to get anything repaired from a smartphone to a gaming console to a vehicle, there can be few options for repair and sometimes a repair can cost more than it’s worth. Across many industries, the growing complexity of electronic gadgets can leave independent repair technicians out of the game unless they can acquire detailed manuals and tools specific to an item, which manufacturers don’t make readily available. It seems that many products today are designed to be unfixable except by the manufacturer at premium cost to the consumer.
As cars have become more computerized with intricate technologies, vehicle owners are often forced to return to the auto dealership for any repairs, even minor ones. When car makers restrict access to critical information, tools, and parts, independent auto repair shops find themselves at a severe disadvantage. This places consumers at the mercy of auto makers, and according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of repairing a vehicle has increased by more than 66% since 2000. The Right to Repair movement is about giving consumers choice when repairs are needed and eliminating the monopoly manufacturers have created by controlling data.
Right to Repair in the auto industry
This battle has raged for years at both state and federal levels, but other than Massachusetts’s 2012 Auto Right to Repair law, efforts to pass such legislation have been blocked by lobbying from electronics and automobile manufacturers and other big business. Most recently, on March 24, 2023, a group of 28 bipartisan attorneys general sent a letter to leaders of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce and U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. In the letter, the attorneys general express their unprecedented support for consumers’ right to repair the items they purchase – including automobiles, tractors, smartphones, and more. They point to bipartisan right to repair measures, like the recently reintroduced Save Money on Auto Repair Transportation (SMART) Act and Right to Equitable and Professional Auto Industry Repair (REPAIR) Act, as critical solutions to original equipment manufacturers’ (OEMs) anticompetitive practices. Read full text of the letter here.
Current law is inadequate to address growing competitive concerns created by new technology, and the Act would seek to resolve current and future issues that prevent consumers and independent repair shops from being able to fully maintain and repair modern vehicles, while ensuring cybersecurity and safety for critical vehicle systems. Auto industry Right to Repair legislation would:
· Put vehicle owners’ interests first by allowing them to have their cars and trucks repaired at other than auto dealerships to save repair costs.
· Protect a competitive motor vehicle repair market, including alternative and recycled parts.
· Eliminate automakers from restricting access to both wired (OBD-II) and wirelessly (telematics) generated vehicle diagnostic and repair information from other than their own service repair mechanics.
· Provide independent repair shops with the rights to critical information, tools, and equipment needed to repair modern cars and trucks.
· Task the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration with developing cybersecurity standards and guidelines to protect vehicle data and systems when repair and maintenance data is accessed by vehicle owners or their third-party mechanics.
How LKQ supports the right to repair movement
LKQ Corporation’s Government and Public Affairs (GAD) department is laser-focused on the priorities that most impact our industry, company and customers, including the Right to Repair that affects all of us, as employees and as consumers. Our LKQ team works daily with Members of Congress, U.S. Administration officials, States Attorneys General, State Legislators, as well as officials in Canada and in the EU. The goal—to pass meaningful repair legislation that allows people to choose where, when, and by whom they get their vehicles repaired and with what parts.
Here are some of the ways LKQ is in the fight:
· Encouraging employees of LKQ to write their members of Congress and Senators, encouraging them to pass the Right to Equitable and Professional Auto Industry Repair Act (REPAIR) and the Save Money on Auto Repair Transportation Act (SMART) to preserve consumer access to high quality and affordable vehicle repair.
·Ensuring our voices are heard by actively working in conjunction with other companies and associations involved in the auto repair industry that support the Right to Repair legislation, including the Consumer Access to Repair Coalition (CAR), Auto Care Association, Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA), the Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA), the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA), the MEMA Aftermarket Suppliers, and Automotive Body Parts Association (ABPA).
· Giving hands-on legislative tours at various LKQ facilities to educate local elected officials on the benefits of alternative parts, auto recycling, motor vehicle diagnostic services, and the importance of protecting the industry from monopolistic mandates that intend to restrict the auto repair industry.
· The GAD team testifies at various state level legislative sessions in support of Right to Repair bills.
· The GAD team also testifies against legislation that opposes the use of alternative parts for auto repair by requiring repairers to follow OEM procedures mandating the use of new OEM parts, tools, and equipment driving up repair costs for consumers.
·GAD spent months working with FOX News on a video segment that documents how OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) refusal to share repair data and the abuse of design patents is driving up the cost of auto repair. It’s been called “the best discussion of #RightToRepair from TV media” and you can view it here.
As a consumer, you should have the right to choose how you want to manage car repairs, including collision repair and routine maintenance. Take action and ask your congressman to co-sponsor the Right to Equitable Auto Industry Repair (REPAIR Act) introduced by Representative Neal Dunn (R-FL) that has garnered bipartisan support among lawmakers. Here are comments by some of the sponsors of the REPAIR Act:
· “When it comes to repairing their automobiles, consumers deserve options. The REPAIR Act would give owners, including the rural communities in my district, secure access to critical data so their chosen service center can replace parts and repair their vehicles. I am proud to support competition in the vehicle repair industry.” –Congressman Dunn (R-FL)
·“There are hundreds of neighborhood mechanics in Philadelphia. The last thing those small business owners need is to be boxed out of making a living. This legislation would not only protect the business relationships between automobile owners and their mechanics, but it also ensures consumers continue to have more options on where to go for repairs.” –Congressman Brendan Boyle (D-PA)
·“By prohibiting vehicle owners from accessing and sharing data they generate, manufacturers stop consumers from accessing third-party repair shops. American vehicle owners have a right to control their data, and a right to access third-party repair shops, tools, and parts.” –Congressman Warren Davidson (R-OH)
· “Working families in rural America can’t afford to take a day off to drive their car to the dealership for a costly repair. The REPAIR Act is a bipartisan solution to improve vehicle data access laws to give working families more choices for repair when their car breaks down. I appreciate Representatives Dunn, Boyle, and Davidson for their leadership on this issue, and look forward to working in a bipartisan fashion to improve repair laws for families who work for a living.” –Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA)
LKQ Online also supports the Right to Repair movement by being the largest online provider of recycled and used auto parts, including original equipment (OE) and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts, as well as aftermarket and remanufactured replacement parts for cars, trucks, and SUVs requiring collision or mechanical repair. Whether you need a replacement engine, transmission, hood, fender or bumper, we provide viable options to new, expensive dealer replacement car parts so you can fix your car your way and save money.
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